Lowcountry Headlines

Officials say missing Malaysia Airlines jet likely not in search area

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - An Australian agency says investigators have concluded that the missing Malaysian jet is not within an area thought to be its most likely resting place after an unmanned submersible found no sign of the plane.

The Joint Agency Coordination Center says the U.S. Navy's Bluefin 21 had finished its final underwater mission in the southern Indian Ocean on Wednesday after scouring 330 square miles.

The agency says an expanded search of 21,600 sq. miles, based on satellite analysis of the plane's most likely route, would probably begin in August after commercial side-scan sonar operators are contracted.

The plane carrying 239 people vanished March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.